Pruritus as a Presenting Manifestation of Hematologic Malignancy

Hematologic malignancy is in the differential diagnosis of otherwise unexplained pruritus. In this retrospective study, researchers used a huge global database (the TriNetX Research Network) to compare the subsequent incidence of hematologic malignancy in 327,000 patients who received diagnoses of “unspecified pruritus” and the same number of controls without that diagnosis; the two groups were propensity-matched on demographic characteristics and on tobacco and alcohol use. Patients with chronic pruritic dermatoses and those with known systemic disorders that cause pruritus (e.g., renal or hepatobiliary disease) were excluded.

During the first year of observation, unspecified pruritus was associated with significant excess risk for Hodgkin …